That report examined test scores of 700,000 fourth and eighth graders at public schools and those of 25,000 private school students. It found that when students of like economic, racial and family backgrounds were compared, public school students did as well as or better than those in private school in fourth grade reading and math and in eighth grade math. The exception was eighth grade reading, in which private school students did better.

Then on Tuesday, the Secretary of Education, Margaret Spellings, joined congressional Republicans in their proposal to spend $100 million on vouchers.

Asked about the DOE's own study, "Ms. Spellings, at the news conference, called the report's sample small and its results ''basically inconclusive.'"